Many trucks and automobiles have ventilation systems that includes a cabin air filter that filters air before it is expelled into the passenger compartment. Cabin air filters should be changed regularly to insure that occupants of the vehicle are provided with fresh filtered air when using the air conditioning, vent, or heater. In some vehicles, changing the cabin air filter is straight forward and simply requires the removal of a cover plate, removal of the old filter, and insertion of a fresh filter. In these vehicles, there is ample space between the vent and filter housings and the floorboard or other interior structures to allow access and replacement. However, in some vehicles and in particular in the cabs of trucks such as pickup trucks, the filter housing can be located in the cabin beneath the dash directly above the rather large hump in the floor that accommodates the transmission. Further, the filter housing that contains the cabin filter in these situations is accessible only from below through a removable filter access port. Since the cabin air filter itself is significantly longer than the space between the filter access port and the transmission hump, it can be difficult to remove the old filter and even more difficult to install a new filter without damaging or destroying the filter itself. This is because the air filter must be bent, twisted, and otherwise contorted to slide it up into the filter housing and this can cause glue joints and frame elements supporting the filter element to break or otherwise fail.
There is a need for a filter and particularly a cabin air filter for vehicles that can be installed easily in a filter housing located in tight and cramped quarters without damaging or destroying the filter. It is to the provision of such a filter that the present invention is primarily directed.